Positive and Negative Online Experiences and Loneliness in Peruvian Adolescents During The COVID-19 Lockdown

COVID-19 lockdowns around the world have markedly disrupted adolescents' in-person social networks, putting them at risk for social isolation, loneliness and their detrimental consequences. During lockdown, social media can help adolescents to maintain and develop relationships across distance, particularly with peers. In this longitudinal, observational study following 735 Peruvian adolescents (11-17 years old) from low-to-middle income urban settings, we investigated whether online experiences relate to loneliness during initial stages of lockdown in Perú. We found that loneliness generally did not change between week six and week eleven of lockdown, was higher for females and similar for all grades. Both positive and negative online experiences were more frequent for older students, and females experienced more negative online experiences than males. Loneliness was negatively associated with positive online experiences, with the reverse pattern for negative online experiences, when controlling for family social support and screen time. Our results highlight the association between online experiences and well-being, suggesting that positive online experiences can be an important vehicle for peer relationships in the face of lockdown.